Re: Help pruning a Thai Onion Bulb

[Flash Wilson]

On Tue, 8 Jul 2003 23:59:58 +0100, Neil > wrote:
>I have a Crinum thaianum (Thai Onion Bulb) in my 30L fancy GF tank that's
>growing like wildfire. I think it could really do with pruning, but I'm not
>sure whether it's best to trim the ends of the leaves, or remove the whole
>leaf from near the plant. The leaves that I've trimmed halfway up haven't
>really grown since, should I fertilise now the plant's a few months old (in
>my tank anyway)?

Mine does well too, and the substrate around it is always spotless :)

It seems to do pretty well on the fish waste without fertilizing but
you do what you think is best.

I was told (by the LFS and I dont know whether to trust this advice)
that if I trimmed the leaf the whole leaf would die off. I've not
found this to be the case - it's possibly happening very slowly
because the ends crinkle and die, but this is on very long leaves
(about 4ft long) and they always seem to get longer even if I take
the ends off.

Another solution is to try to wind them or persuade them to the
area in your tank where you would prefer them to be, but I don't
have much joy with this. It lasts an hour or two :)

>I'm also having trouble finding more of this plant. I've not seen one in my
>LFS since I bought it two months ago. It's growth characteristics would make
>it ideal for our large planted tank at work.

I see it often in the LFSs in London, UK, so I can't believe it's
that hard to come by? But they grow so prolificly that for me, one
is plenty!


--
Flash Wilson
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[Earl D Fitzgerald]

I have this plant in my 75e tank. They like root tabs and CO2 injection.
If given both with strong light the onion will grow quite quickly. I have
trimmed my plants several time with mixed results. Your local fish store is
right that over trimming can cause a "leaf" to die. There is one or two of
the outer leaves that normal die off during a triming. I remove them after
I see the leaf is no longer alive.

I have yet to have an onion split. Is anyone else had any luck with this?

Fishboy


"Neil" > wrote in message
...
> I have a Crinum thaianum (Thai Onion Bulb) in my 30L fancy GF tank that's
> growing like wildfire. I think it could really do with pruning, but I'm
not
> sure whether it's best to trim the ends of the leaves, or remove the whole
> leaf from near the plant. The leaves that I've trimmed halfway up haven't
> really grown since, should I fertilise now the plant's a few months old
(in
> my tank anyway)?
>
> I'm also having trouble finding more of this plant. I've not seen one in
my
> LFS since I bought it two months ago. It's growth characteristics would
make
> it ideal for our large planted tank at work.
>
>

[Neil]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm reasonably happy with the growth at the
moment, but I'm going to try a couple of root tabs and see what happens. My
Calico Fantail has outgrown the tank anyway, but I can't move her until she
drops her eggs. With two males milking into the water, it's hard to see from
one end to the other :)

An Onion Plant tank is starting to look like a real possibility :)

Neil